Evaluation of extracellular vesicle-enriched fraction-derived miR-105, miR-1908, and miR-122 expression profiles in prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia

Abstract Prostate cancer (PCa) remains a critical challenge in oncology. There is a need to explore novel, minimally invasive indicators to help evaluate differences between PCa and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which often mimics PCa symptoms and whose clinical evaluation is complicated by overlapping PSA levels. This study exploratively investigated the expression profiles of extracellular vesicle (EV)-enriched fraction-derived miR-105, miR-1908, and miR-122 miRNAs previously associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition, metastatic signaling, and metabolic reprogramming to evaluate their potential associations with urological malignancies. EV-like particles were isolated from the plasma of 25 patients with BPH, 50 with PCa (25 localized, 25 metastatic), and 21 healthy controls. Transmission electron microscopy characterized the morphology of EV-like particles and revealed a significant increase in particle size within the PCa cohorts compared to the BPH and control groups ( p < 0.05). Following cDNA synthesis and miRNA profiling, miR-1908 expression was significantly downregulated in the PCa groups (LPCa and especially MPCa) relative to the BPH group ( p < 0.05). No significant differences were observed in the expression levels of miR-105 and miR-122. These results suggest that miR-1908 levels may be associated with prostate pathological status. While miR-1908 warrants further investigation as an exploratory candidate, large-scale studies are necessary to validate these preliminary associations and determine their potential clinical relevance.